Variable-speed transmission mechanism.



G.GUTHBERT. VARIABLE SPEED TRANSMISSION MBOHANISM.`

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 23, 1909.

980,210, Patented .121113, 1911.

'1:4 SHEETS-s112111 1.

G. G'UTHBERT.

VARIABLE SPEED TRANSMISSION MBOHANISM.

AAPPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1909.

"PanenaJm 3, 19,11.

2 annata-SHEET 2.

Se. A mw MY automobiles, but may UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORG-E CUTHBERT, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONELHALF T0 FRANCIS J'. FEE, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VARIABLE-SPEED TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

i Bpeoioation ot Letters Patent.v

Application led November 28, 1909. Serial No. 529,574.

To all whom 'it ma/y concern:

Be 'it known that I, Groen' Cu'rnnsacr, of Philadelphia, inthe county of Philadelphia, and in the State of'Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Im rovement in Variable-Speed Transmission Iltlechanism, and do hereby declare that the fol? lowing is a full, clear, thereof.

The ob'ect of my invention is to rovide a variab e speed 'transmission mec anism which is intended to be substituted for the iig-wheel and the gear'mechanism, used fon o taining' variable speeds, now in use.

Myinvention is esplecially applicable to v used in connection with any other type of motor mechanism dea'nd exact description sired.

anism;

lwhich A in an automobile.

By means of m invention a variable speed transmission evice is provided .which is capable of variation from a position of i rest to any speed whatever, up to the maximum .'By. means of m invention I have secured many other use l and desirable results, the nature of which is disclosed hereinafter in connection with the description of the details of the device.

Ihave shown one embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the mech- Fi 2 is another vertical section thereof, ta en at right-angles to the section shown in Fi 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical side elevation, part yinsection, of the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a detail, partly in section, of a pair ofpistons used in the a paratus; Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of e pressure equalizin devices;` Fig. 6' is a detail view of the va ve-operating mechanism; and Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the counter-balances.

In the drawings,.1 is a driving shaft connected with any suitable motor, such, for example, as a gasolene explosive motor used h 'lhe end of thehshaft 1 su rts t e casin or receiving t e variablepspeed transmissgion mechanism. This casing comprises a plate 2 supported directly upon the shaft 1, said plate 2 being secured i of a driven shaft 7. It is intended that the casi be rotated with the driven shaft 7 andnor this reason the plate 6 is provided passin vwith a screw 8, which asses into thebody of the driven shaft 7. etween the plate 6 and the shaft 7 there is located a stuliing box 9 to prevent the escape of any oil from the apparatus. In a similar manner a stuiling box 10 is provided upon the shaft 1 to revent the' escape of oil around the same. he plate 6 is constructed with a series of six radiating cylinders 11 to receive three pairs of pistons 12. Between the cylinders 11 the plate 6 is constructed with transverse apertures 13 to permit the passage of air to cool the apparatus while in use. One pair of the pistons 12 is provided with a connectin rod mechanism, which comprises a centra yoke 14 attached to the said pistons by means of spacing blocks 15 and screws 16 from the faces of the pistons throng said spacing blocks and into the body of the yoke 14. The weight of the connecti making circular openings 17 in the yoke 14. The connecting rod mechanism for this pair of pistons is located in the center of the casing of the variable speed transmission mechanism. Another pair of opposing istons in the casin is connected together in a similar manner y means of a pair of such connecting rod mechanisms already described, said pair of connecting rod mecha-V nisms being located on the op osite sides of said single connecting'rod mec anism. In 1a similar manner the remaining pair of pistons is connected together by means of a pair of connecting rod mechanisms, which are 1ocated outside of and adjacent to the remaining connecting rod mechanisms already de-V scribed. Each of the yokes 14 co rates with a separate slide block 18, which is oosely carried by a cylindrical portion of a crank pin 19 attached at one end to the crank 20, carried by the inner end of the driving shaft 1, and connected at its other end with a 'crank 21 supported upon a journal 22 received by the inner end of the driven shaft 7. A counter-balance 23 is located upon a squared portion 24 projecting from the crank 20, and a similar counter-balance 25 is sup orted upon a squared projection 26 locatedJ upon the inner end of the crank 21. It will beseen that by this arrangement the casing containing the variable speed transmission mechanism is divided into an inner chamber 27 and an outer chamber 28. These chambers are designed to be filled with Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

vber 28, and the liquid liquids,

'registry the purpose of the liquidlocated in the inner chamber 27 being to'prevent any leakage into the same from the outer chainin the outer chamber 28 being provided for reducing the speed to any extent desired of the various pistons 12 in the cylinders 11. The liquid which I use for this purpose may be of any desired character, but I preferably use oil or glycerin or a mixture of the two. An oil which may be used to advantage for this purpose is cylinder oil. In order to restrict the flow of the'body of oil, assuming oil to be the liquid used, in the outer chamber 28 I provide a valve-,mechanism which comprises a circular plate 29, said plate being provided with six circular apertures 30, adapted to register, in a certain position of the plate, with the cylinders 11. .The plate 29 is designed `to be moved so as to move the apertures 3() out of with the cylinders 11, and for ac complishing this purpose, I provide at diametrically-opposite sides of the casing shafts 31 each carrying a pair of lever arms 32, the ends of which pass into apertures 33 provided in the band 29.' The shafts 31 are 4journaled at one end inthe plate 6, and pass outwardly at the other end through the cylindrical shell 4, stufling boxes 34 being provided for preventing the escape of any oil around the shafts 31; The shafts 31 are ro.

tated so as to 4move the apertures 30 out of registry with the cylinders 11 to any extent desired by means of links 35, which are connected to bell-crank levers 36 carried by journal brackets 37 projecting from the plate 2. The ends of the bell-crank levers 3 6 are operated by means of a slidable sleeve 3'8, which, in turn, is moved in any suitable manner by m'eans of a manually-operated lever not shown, located in proximity to the motor mechanism.

v In order to permit the inner and outer chambers 27 and 28 to be filled with oil, screw-plugs 39 and 40 are provided in apertures leading into the same. The location of these plugs is such as toprevent the formation of an air operation.

As a certain amount of expansion and contraction, due to heat and cold is unavoidable in the liquids present in the chambers 27 and 28, I locate adjacent to both of said chambers a pressure equalizer or `regulator 41. Each of these pressure equalizers or regulators comprises a flexible diaphragm 42 carried upon the inner face of the plate 6, a spring-pressed plunger 43 cooperatingA with the rear fare of said diaphragm, an adjustable screw-threaded plug 44 for receiving the other end of the spring-pressed plunger 43, and a yoke 45 carried by the outer face of the plate 6 for supporting in position the screw-threaded plug 44.

. In the operation of the. mechanism, the

trapv during the filling.

asomo drivin shaft 1 beingl voperated atA a. given speedl y means of the motor, poweris conveyed therefrom through the connecting rod mechanisms to the six pistons 12 operating in the cylinders 11. Assuming that the apertures 30 are in registry with the cylinders 11, as shown in Fig.` 2, the pistons 12 will be moved back and forth by the rotation of the shaft 1, without causing the variable speed transmission mechanlsm,

which -is attached to the driven shaft 7, to

be moved to any degree whatsoever. In this position of the parts, if thevariable speed transmission Qmechamsm is applied to an automobile, the latter will remain absolutely stationary durin the operation of the motor.' If now it 1s desired to convey power from the driving shaft 1 to the driven shaft 7, the sleeve 38 is moved by means of a manually-operated lever attached thereto, so as to cause the apertures 30 to be moved partly or entirply out of registry with the cylinders l1. hen the band 29, carrying the apertures which has found its way intothe cylinders 11 in front of the pistons 12 is, to some extent, retarded from escaping therefrom. In other words, the speed at which the oil so contained in the cylinders 11 is forcedtherefrom into the outer chamber 28is controlled by the position of the apertures 30. By this means any desired speed upto a given maximum can be conveyed from the drivin shaft 1 to the driven shaft 7. If it is deslred to drive the driven shaft 7 at exactly the same speed as the driving shaft 1, the apertures 30 are moved entirely out of registry with the cylinders 11. During the operation of the device in this manner n o oil can leak past the pistons 12 from the outer chamber 28 to the inner chamber 27 inasmuch as the latter chamber is already filled -with a similar body of oil. Should any leakage at all occur from the outer chamber 28 to the inner chamber during the time that a body of oil is being expelled from one 4of the cylinders 11, a similar amount of oil will leak from the inner chamber 27 past the opposite piston 12 to the outer chamber 28.` Any leaka e, therefore, which might by any possi ility occur ,in ,the operation of the device is equalized, so that the bodies of oil in the two chambers 27 and 28 remain constant in quantity. 4

The arrangement which I have shown and described is especially advantageous in prethe casing of 30, has been moved, the oil s venting any loss of power due to friction of the body of liquid against the casing, as

the exterior chamber 28 is very large it would be practically impossible to maintain said driven shaft at rest, even when the apertures were open to their fullest extent.

Should an expansion or contraction in the bodies o oil occur, due to a change in the temperature, this expansion is taken care of by a 'corresponding movement of the diaphra 42 of the pressure ualizin or regu ating devices. Any possi ility o the formation of s aces inthe chambers 27 and 28 not filled with liquid but filled with a gas of some kind, is thereby avoided.

The variable speed transmission mechamsm also operates perfectly as a iiy-wheel, inasmuch as the weight of the parts is Sullicient, and as the presence of the counterbalances 23 and 25 causes the center of gravity to be retained at all times at the centers of the supportin shafts. Furthermore, in the operation o the device, every opportunity is given for preventin any rise in temperature which might be ue, either to the friction of the parts, or dueto conduction from the heat of the motor mechanism by the presence of the openings 13 which pas's through the apparatus transversely, in a manner similar to the openings between the s okes of a wheel.

W iile I have described my invention above in detail, I wish -it to be understood that nianv changes may be made thereinI without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim 1. In a variable speed transmission mechanism, one or more cylinders one or more pistons therefor, a body of liquid coperating therewith, and a pressure regulator for permitting the ex ansion and contraction ofthe body of iquid, said pressure regulator comprising a flexible diaphragm and a coiled spring for pressing the same inwardly.--

2. In a variable speed transmission mechanism, one or more cylinders, one or more ypistons therefor, a body of liquid adapted to be admitted to and expelled from said cylinders, and a valve mechanism having apertures for controlling the flow of the liquid at least as large as the cross-sectional areas of the cylinders.

3. In a variable speed transmission mechanism, a series of cylinders arranged in a circle, a series of pistons therefor, a body of li uid adapted to be admitted to and cxelle from said cylinders, and a valve band avin apertures adapted to control the access o the body of liquid to 'said cylinders.

4. In a variable speed transmission mechanism, one or more cylinders, one or more pistons therefor, a driving shaft connected to one of said elements, a driven shaft connected to ythe other, and a countcrbalance for balancing the eccentricity of the position of the piston or pistons.

5. In a device of the character described a pair of opposed cylinders, and a pair of pistons therefor, said pistons being coni nected together by a yoke, and thin ilat spacing blocks located between the yoke and the piston to permit the parts to be readily dismantled.

6. In a ldevice of the character described, a pair of opposed cylinders, and a pair lof pis- -tons therefor, said pistons being connected together by a yoke, thin flat spacing blocks to ermit the parts to be readily dismantled, and) screws passing from the pistons through the blocks and into the yoke.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE CUTHBERT. Witnesses:

N.- N. RANDALL, JOHN D. RICHARDSON. 

